Embattled prime minister pressed to abandon top-down approach to government as difficult autumn nears

Cabinet ministers including Rishi Sunak will this week urge Boris Johnson not to keep sidelining his ministers, as officials warn of a difficult autumn ahead with pressures over hospital waiting lists, social care reform and court backlogs.

Johnson will face a tricky few days after the landslide loss in the byelection in Chesham and Amersham, a defeat that many of his own MPs put down to his controversial planning changes and which Labour will seek to exploit in a debate and vote on Monday.

Fears grow of affordability crisis for young people as property prices in countryside soar by 14.2% a year

Rural house prices in England and Wales are increasing twice as fast as in cities, triggering a fresh affordability crisis for young people, with hot spots flaring up across the country from Lincolnshire to Lancashire as people seek more space post-pandemic.

Prices are rising 14.2% a year in countryside locations on average compared with less than 7% in urban areas, figures analysed by Hamptons estate agency for the Guardian show. It is compounding existing affordability problems in places such as Cornwall and Devon, but the biggest percentage increases of up to 30% were in Broxtowe in Nottinghamshire, around Lancaster, in Arun in West Sussex and Amber Valley in Derbyshire.

Half an hour before kick-off, when the team sheets were read aloud for the first time, the loudest Roman roar was reserved for the Italy manager, Roberto Mancini. On the front of Gazzetta dello Sportas pullout last week, Mancini was mocked up in the dugout alongside Albert Einstein but a third successive victory, which extended their unbeaten run to a record-equalling 30 matches, required little genius. In fact, they barely broke sweat on a muggy evening on which Matteo Pessina scored the only goal to beat Wales.

Wales, who had Ethan Ampadu sent off 10 minutes into the second half, became their latest victims but Italyas failure to press home their one-man advantage ensured Robert Pageas side will qualify from Group A in second place, teeing up a last-16 date in Amsterdam on Saturday. Italyas supporters enjoyed themselves and by the end there was a carnival atmosphere as a Mexican wave made its way around this cavernous stadium. It was an outcome that suited both teams, even if Ampaduas red card will rankle.

PHEas chief coronavirus adviser says exemption from self-isolation could allow people to travel more freely

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The UK is moving towards a situation where people who have been double-vaccinated could be exempt from quarantine, Public Health Englandas chief Covid-19 adviser has said.

Dr Susan Hopkins, one of the key government advisers on the response to the pandemic, said a decision would be made after the results of a study that uses daily lateral flow tests as an alternative to isolation for 10 days after coming into contact with a positive case.

Chief scientific adviser will head new government body looking at big bets in science and technology

The governmentas chief scientific adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance, has been asked by Boris Johnson to investigate whether the UKas successful vaccine procurement programme can be replicated in other areas of technology.

Vallance, who has become a household name following his appearances at coronavirus press conferences, will take on the new title of national technology adviser, serving alongside his current roles.

Abstention rate estimated at 68%, and exit polls suggest Le Penas National Rally failed to get expected support

Emmanuel Macronas centrist party received what one of its own MPs called a aslap in the facea in regional and department elections on Sunday.

The president and his government failed to mobilise supporters, with an estimated 68% of voters shunned the polling stations a an unprecedented rate of abstention. If there was any consolation for the ruling party it was that exit polls suggested Marine Le Penas far-right National Rally had failed to garner its expected support.

UK-based Petrofac accused of making payments over more than 15 years to secure contracts

A multinational oil firm which was led by a major Conservative donor has been under investigation for allegedly paying million-pound bribes to secure contracts in nine countries.

The anti-corruption agency the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has been examining allegedly suspicious payments made by the UK-based firm Petrofac.

Families and friends share memories of three men killed in Forbury Gardens last June

Family and friends of the three men killed in a terror attack in Reading have told of their heartache at a memorial service.

James Furlong, a 36-year-old history teacher, Dr David Wails, a 49-year-old scientist, and Joseph Ritchie-Bennett, 39, who worked for a pharmaceutical company, were murdered in Forbury Gardens on 20 June last year.

Angela Rayner says academic awards should only be considered where directly related to the post

Labour has said the government should end the consideration of academic qualifications for civil service jobs apart from where directly related to the post, to end the asnobberya over degrees.

Labouras deputy leader, Angela Rayner, said degrees and A-levels should only be taken into account where they are a genuine occupational requirement, such as science qualifications.

Justice secretary has 21 days to request formal reconsideration of decision in case of double murderer

The UK justice secretary is considering intervening over the Parole Boardas decision to approve the release of the child killer and rapist Colin Pitchfork.

The double murderer was jailed in 1988 after raping and strangling 15-year-olds Lynda Mann and Dawn Ashworth in Leicestershire in 1983 and 1986.

Fourteen-year-old from County Kildare to play opposite Oscar winner in feelgood film Joyride

An Irish teenager has been plucked from obscurity and cast alongside Olivia Colman, one of the industryas most sought-after actors, as the lead characters in a feature film that begins shooting this month.

Fourteen-year-old Charlie Reid, from County Kildare, is said to be aabsolutely thrilleda to have been picked to play a 13-year-old ascallywaga opposite Colman, who won an Oscar for her portrayal of Queen Anne in The Favourite and whose acclaimed performances include Queen Elizabeth in the Netflix hit The Crown.

A further six deaths were recorded in the UK; Vigilance urged as France eases restrictions

• PHE London says unlikely capital will have all over-30s double-vaccinated by 19 July
• People in UK with both jabs may not have to quarantine, says scientist
• Under-18s could be areservoirsa for virus when all UK adults are jabbed
• aTwo Americasa as Delta variant spreads and vaccination rates drop
• Uganda Olympic athlete arriving in Tokyo tests positive for coronavirus
• aDevastateda Phuket races to vaccinate in time for holiday season

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The number of ablack fungusa cases in India has shot up to more than 30,000 in the past three weeks.

According to the New York Times, while the federal health ministry has not published figures on fatalities related to the disease, states have brought the death toll to 2,100.

8.16pm BST

France has reported 1,815 new Covid-19 cases on the same day it announced measures to ease lockdown, Reuters reports.

The number remains unchanged from the previous day, while deaths have risen by 14.

Architect of universal credit says government must rethink plans to end APS20 a week payment increase

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The former minister who oversaw the introduction of universal credit has called on the government to maintain key benefit increases introduced during the pandemic, lamenting that it had taken a global health crisis for the welfare system to be provided with adequate funding.

In a rare interview, David Freud, regarded as the architect of the controversial benefit, told the Observer he battled against amassive cutsa demanded by the Treasury and had considered resigning.

More men than ever are joining fathersa groups and showing an interest in what it means to be a dad

When Elliott Rae started his dadsa group Music Football Fatherhood back in 2016, it was just him and a couple of men from work. He didnat face any negativity exactly, people just didnat really understand what he was doing, or why he was doing it.

But the last 12 months has seen a massive rise in interest in fatherhood and dadsa groups, he says, as fathers in the UK spend more time with their children and look to other dads to help them navigate a path through the twists and turns of parenting.

Bidenas 70% vaccination target by Fourth of July likely to fall short as efforts to entice people to get shots have lost their initial impact

With Covid vaccination penetration in the US likely to fall short of Joe Bidenas 70% by Fourth of July target, pandemic analysts are warning that vaccine incentives are losing traction and that atwo Americasa may emerge as the aggressive Delta variant becomes the dominant US strain.

Efforts to boost vaccination rates have come through a variety of incentives, from free hamburgers to free beer, college scholarships and even million-dollar lottery prizes. But of the efforts to entice people to get their shots have lost their initial impact, or failed to land effectively at all.

Elisabeth Moss has always made this impressive if horrifying TV. But as the new series turns June into queen of the rebels, it has a shot of new life

I am not sure if aenjoymenta is quite the right word in relation to watching The Handmaidas Tale (Channel 4). It has been, at various points over the last three seasons, either a harrowing slog or an extremely harrowing slog. But at its best, it is impressive, inventive drama that pushes unfamiliar buttons with great skill. It had a magnificent, haunting first season, which largely stuck to the plot of Margaret Atwoodas classic novel, but afterwards it struggled under the weight of its own misery. June (Elisabeth Moss) escaped from Gilead, and was captured, ad infinitum, which made it feel like a gruesome hall of mirrors in which hope was pointless. It made me wonder whether continuing to watch was pointless, too. But a diversion into global politics gave it a shot of new life, and season four continues to explore new ground. It needed it, and it works.

The lengthy recap at the beginning is useful, given that the pandemic delayed production. According to its showrunner, Bruce Miller, the logistics of shooting in Canada also had a direct effect on shaping the story. June organised a cohort of rebels, pulling together an underground network of Marthas and Handmaids, to smuggle 86 children out of Gilead, saving them from life under a brutal regime. The Waterfords have been arrested by the Canadian government and are in captivity, but at the end of season three, it looked as though June may have run out of luck. Still, without her, this is Handmaidsa Tales, rather than The Handmaidas Tale. If the question is, how much more can one woman endure, then the answer comes quickly: using no anaesthetic, Janine cauterises the shotgun wound in Juneas abdomen with a red-hot poker. Welcome to season four.

The rapper has worked with Kanye and Madonna and blazed a trail for black queer pop. Their new mini album, they say, feels like the start of a new chaptera|

Mykki Blanco has just moved to Hollywood, and five minutes into our conversation, the 35-year old rapperas beloved mother calls. aShe needs to chill out. Like, I donat work?a laughs Blanco. aSheas helping me pick out furniture and sheas gone crazy about the whole thing.a There is something pure about one of hip-hopas most experimental figures having their mother help them decorate. The non-binary musician (who uses the pronouns they/them) has been living outside the US for the past five years, residing mostly in Europe: London and Portugalas countryside. They also lived in Paris during the cityas second lockdown in late 2020 a an experience Blanco describes as aemotionally distressinga. But now, back living near family and friends, Blancoas spirits seem high. Their new mini album, Broken Hearts & Beauty Sleep, an electric collection of love songs featuring Blood Orange and Jamila Woods, is a fresh beginning. For starters, itas the first time they have had a record deal.

That may come as a surprise considering Blanco has not only worked with Kanye West, Charli XCX and Madonna, but was also a founding member of aqueer rapa, a sub-genre of hip-hop that allowed LGBTQ+ people to express themselves freely. Tattooed and 6ft 2in tall, Blanco has long played with drag and gender presentation, whether donning waist-length braids and a pink corset or a shirt and a shaved head; rapping bluntly over trippy synths, their hyperactive lyrics address sexuality, partying and bravado from a queer perspective. In 2012 Elle magazine declared them ahip-hopas new queena, and in the New York Times Michael Schulman enthused about their aglamazon alter egoa| a redoubtable presence on the New York downtown art and cabaret scenea. They self-released their 2016 debut album, Mykki, to critical acclaim: it was described by the Observeras Kitty Empire as aone of the yearas most riveting musical selfaportraitsa.

Animal thefts surged alarmingly during the pandemic. But for heartbroken owners around the world, a new breed of dedicated sleuth is ready to
help track down your missing pet

Iave always preferred animals to people. Iave never met an animal I didnat like, whereas there are plenty of humans I could do without. As a young girl growing up in rural Queensland, I had my own Lassie dog a Sam a stolen from me, when I was six. My siblings were older, and Sam was my best friend. He went missing before microchips and registrations a Iam almost certain we found the family who took him, but that was never proved. It always stayed with me; I never got closure. I felt like Iad failed him, which is why I dedicate my life to tracking down other pets.

Muslim voters say unhappiness with Labour leader means they will place votes elsewhere for first time

When Keir Starmer shifted Labouras position on Kashmir in the first weeks of his leadership last year, he may not have realised that his stated intention of preventing aissues of the subcontinent to divide communities herea could cost the support of some of its most loyal voters.

Canvassing outside Jamia Masjid in Heckmondwike on Friday, the Labour candidate in the Batley and Spen byelection, Kim Leadbeater, received a hostile reception from voters who are unhappy with the partyas stance on foreign policy issues such as Palestine and Kashmir, amid a perception that the party takes some forms of racism more seriously than others.

Donington Park, Leicestershire
Exuberant scenes at the rock and metal festival test event find its 10,000 guinea pigs leaving Covid blues far behind

When was the last time rockanaroll felt this important? With the world starved of concerts, all eyes are on Download Pilot to roadmap the future of live music post-Covid. Granted, the three days are a shell of the festivalas usual fare; only 10,000 a one-11th of Donington Park capacity a descended upon a shrunken site this year, with the number of stages halved to two.

However, within the arena itself, the normality feels overwhelming. Masks and social distancing have been rendered archaic a every attendee has submitted proof of a negative lateral flow test a replaced by a hunger for heaviness that pervades the air every year.

The scientist and broadcaster discusses the drawbacks of calorie-counting and BMI in measuring obesity, and how our growing understanding of genetics is leading to new treatments

Since the dawn of the 20th century, almost all weight loss guidelines have used calories as a simple measure of how much energy weare consuming from our food. But according to Giles Yeo, a Cambridge University research scientist who studies the genetics of obesity, thereas one problem: not all calories are created equal. In his new book, Why Calories Donat Count, Yeo explains that what really matters is not how many calories a particular food contains, but how that food is digested and absorbed by your body.

Can you explain why you feel calorie-counting is a flawed approach to weight loss?
There was an American chemist in the 19th century called Wilbur Olin Atwater who calculated the calorie numbers for different foods, by working out the total energy intake you get from them. But his calculations never took into account the energy it takes our cells to metabolise food in order to use it. This is important. Itas why for example a calorie of protein makes you feel fuller than a calorie of fat, because protein is more complex to metabolise. For every 100 calories of protein you eat, you only ever absorb 70.

Eight big-name actors are rebooting the award-winning love story Constellations in Londonas West End. The first couple discuss their parallel careers - and their hotly disputed encounter as children

aIn the quantum multiverse, every choice, every decision youave ever made and never made exists in an unimaginably vast ensemble of parallel universes.a So says quantum physicist Marianne in Nick Payneas award-winning two-hander, Constellations. It follows that Sheila Atim, who plays Marianne in the latest revival of the play, may or may not have been bullied by her co-star Ivanno Jeremiah when they met at a party in real life as children. The encounter may, or may not, have happened at a big cook-up in south London, thrown in the early 00s by families of northern Ugandan Acholi heritage, which both actors share. Jeremiah was 11 or 12, Atim a couple of years younger. Twenty years on, the conversation goes like this:

Atim: aHe picked on me. And itas funny, because I remember the event really vividly, but I didnat remember that it was him.a

This summer is officially sexy a and the hottest look for men is short shorts. But are we ready for this much male flesh?

In April the US actor Milo Ventimiglia, star of This Is Us, was photographed leaving the gym in a sleeveless vest and a pair of shorts so short you could barely tell they were there: two thumb-sized rims of black material gave way to legs so round and meaty they could be shoved in the oven for three hours at 180C.

It was one innocuous paparazzi photo that broke a dam of desire. The image was reshared on social media tens of thousands of times, users claiming: aEvery thought in my head has been replaced with these images.a

The current side have shed their long-held reputation for sober reliability to become the fun team of the tournament

aThe tournament can begin,a as Toni Kroos drily observed. And certainly after the disappointment against France on Tuesday night it was impossible to watch Germanyas breezy, brassy win over Portugal on Saturday without wondering whether it might just be the start of something: a stirring, an awakening, a team and a system and perhaps even an idea twitching belatedly to life.

As the goals piled up, as Germanyas flying wing-backs sliced and shredded the defending champions a RAoben Dias, Pepe and all a on their way to a 4-2 triumph, the temptation was to declare that this was a film we had all seen before. Right on cue, and with perfect timing, The Germans (and for some reason it always is The Germans, never just Germany) have finally turned up. The Germans are coming. Never, ever write off The Germans.

Returning midfielder added A-list class to the tournamentas standout team as they secured top spot against Wales

Well, that was tense. Kind of. On a gruelling afternoon in Rome Wales qualified for the last 16 of Euro 2020. Thanks to the vagaries of the format they did so through a shifting fog of almost-drama, a whirl of semi-excitement, as Group A did its best to conjure some genuine final-round tension out of Uefaas self-own of a 24-team Euros.

Not that anyone in red cared. It is now two out of two for Wales: two European Championships and two knockout-stage runs, a wonderful achievement for this high-craft, brilliantly likable generation of players and for the caretaker manager, Robert Page.

How wrong can you be? Senol Gunesas young Turkey side departed Baku for a presumably awkward inquest in Istanbul after suffering three defeats, conceding eight goals and scoring just one. So much for their pre-tournament status as dark horses.

All things are relative but this was Turkeyas best Group A performance.Ultimately though they could not control Switzerlandas outstanding Xherdan Shaqiri and appeared bamboozled by Vladmir Petkovicas smart, mid-game decision to switch from a back three to a back four.

• Manchester City midfielder says idea came from Sergio AgA1/4ero
• aRomania did it so I would make everyone get same haircuta

Phil Foden says his England teammates have agreed to dye their hair blond like him if they emerge victorious at Euro 2020. The midfielder unveiled his new look on the eve of the tournament, sparking comparisons to Paul Gascoigne who went blond for Euro 96.

Related: Southgate: Kane is Englandas amost important playera and will keep place

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Russell Henley canat make his long par saver on 8. Itas all going wrong for the 32-year-old from Georgia, who slips to -2. Daniel Berger meanwhile has signed for a final round of 68, and joins Branden Grace in the clubhouse lead at -1.

10.26pm BST

Rahm - who will have been fearful of taking six, seven or even eight as he watched his drive disappear towards the boundary fence at 9 - lands his third onto the shoulder of a bunker to the left of the green. The ball takes a big turn right, and nearly trundles in for an absurd eagle! Heall have a look at birdie from three feet. This might be the hole, and the sequence of events, that makes him think: this is my time!

• Red Bull driver hunts down rival to overtake in penultimate lap
• Sergio PA(c)rez completes podium with Bottas fourth

The French Grand Prix for once was the stuff of great saga, a titanic struggle that had it all as the two top teams and their two best drivers locked horns across the full race distance at Paul Ricard. Max Verstappen and Red Bull came out on top but only after a race that ebbed and flowed and could not be called until Verstappen passed Lewis Hamiltonas Mercedes for the lead on the penultimate lap.

A closely fought affair, both driversa skills were gloriously displayed as were the roles of their colleagues in the pits. This time it was Red Bullas engineers who held the advantage, landing a striking blow on several levels. Verstappen now has a 12-point lead over Hamilton in the championship and with Sergio PA(c)rez also taking third from Valtteri Bottas in fourth, his team a 37-point advantage over Mercedes in the constructorsa.

Mark McCallas men beat Ealing in final by an aggregate score of 117-15 in a warning shot to next seasonas Premiership rivals

With just less than half an hour left of the second leg of the Championship final, and with an aggregate lead of more than 80 points, the Saracens director of rugby, Mark McCall, saw fit to haul off his five British & Irish Lions. If it was good news for Warren Gatland, it was anything but for Ealing Trailfinders.

Saracens added another four tries without their star names on the field to rubber-stamp their return to the Premiership with another drubbing.

• WTC final, day three: India 217 all out, New Zealand 101-2
• Jamieson takes five for 31 in immaculate bowling display

The sounds of the Bharat Armyas drummers rung around the Ageas Bowl on the third day of the World Test Championship final and in the end this energy finally told, India striking moments before bad light ended proceedings at 6.27pm to peg back New Zealandas march towards a position of strength.

It was Ishant Sharma, the old warhorse of Virat Kohlias attack, who claimed this precious breakthrough. Devon Conway had become the first batsman to register a half-century in what is proving a low-scoring affair, only to chip a ball on his pads to mid-on and terminate an otherwise resolute 54 from 153 balls.

• Kane set to start against Czech Republic despite poor form
• Raheem Sterling: a When we need him most, heall scorea

Gareth Southgate has moved to reassure Harry Kane that he is Englandas leading man after two flat performances from the captain in the opening week of Euro 2020.

Kane was virtually anonymous in the disappointing draw with Scotland on Friday and also failed to shine in the win against Croatia, finding himself substituted in both games even though they were in the balance. Englandas attack has spluttered so far and there have even been calls in some quarters for Kane to be dropped, with questions hovering about his fitness.

• Berrettini quashes hopes of first ATP title with big-serving win
• Italian becomes first debutant to triumph since Boris Becker

Cameron Norrieas bid to become the king of Queenas Club was ended in three sets by the big-serving Italian Matteo Berrettini in the final of the Cinch Championships.

Norrie, 25, was attempting to become only the second British player to win at Queenas Club, after Andy Murray, since the second world war. But Berrettini, the world No 9 and top seed, proved too strong in a 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-3 victory.

The pandemic has revealed the Johnson governmentas attitude to the arts: a mixture of indifference and hostility

Human beings need to regularly gather together. Over the past 15 or so months, the fact that we have largely been deprived of such opportunities has been a key reason why so many people have felt so listless and disoriented a and, for that matter, why some have been driven to break the rules. Obviously, to understand what they have done is not to condone it, but there is something in all those stories of illicit parties and so-called raves that highlights a need for communality and shared pleasure that will always finds cracks to grow in, like weeds on the driest of pavements.

The best example of what we have missed centres on the UKas outdoor festivals. Amid corporate sponsorship and phone-charging tents, these events may not necessarily look like the modern version of ancient rites involving dancing, singing and feasting (and intoxication), but it is not hard to see them as exactly that. They also highlight what the performing arts bring to the world, and how much people value them. In 2019, 26% of British adults were reckoned to have gone to at least one festival in the past 12 months; before the pandemic struck, the sheer number of British events a from vast mega-festivals to compact local versions a spoke volumes about peopleas appetite for them.

Legitimacy concerns will haunt the new president, Ebrahim Raisi, after non-voters outnumbered voters for the first time

The first thing you need to know about Iranas recent elections is that while they produced a new president, there are no real winners. aEngineereda a yes, an actual term in usage in Iran a to pave the way for an ayatollah-approved leadership succession, the polls have achieved what has long eluded the Islamic Republicas foes: effective regime change in Tehran. Only, with hardliners now firmly in charge, it is not the type of change that many in the west had sought.

Reaching his twilight years, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been looking for a successor. To the 82-year-old head of state, the ideal successor is a pliant loyalist who could emulate his own journey from the presidency to the top position in the land. On paper, this is precisely what is unfolding. However, as always, the devil is in the detail.

Messages that lead with values encourage people to identify with people seeking asylum, rather than see them as aothera

In October last year, it was reported that the home secretary, Priti Patel, had been looking into the use of offshore detention facilities to house people who come to Britain seeking asylum. In practice, this would mean that people arriving in Britain in need of safety would be shipped to some kind of detention centre on islands far away from mainland UK. We are both people with close personal ties to Australia and know all too well the grotesque consequences of such a system. Australiaas offshore detention has denied people their basic rights and caused incalculable suffering. Indeed Australiaas system was so cruel, the British government actually condemned it at the United Nations in 2015.

But although the current UK government likes to mimic Australian-style migration policies, this World Refugee Day is marked by a turning point in both countries, with grassroots activists, concerned citizens and refugees themselves joining together to demand a fair and efficient asylum system that processes people quickly and allows them to rebuild their lives in our communities.

Hereas the dream. From now on, more people will work from home more of the time, which means that, for the same total commuting time per week, they can live further from the big, pressurised, expensive metropolitan centres, especially London, but also cities such as Manchester, Bristol or Edinburgh.

Such workers can find cheaper locations where they can afford more space, perhaps a garden, assets that among other things become more important if youare working from home. For many, it might make the difference between being able to buy a home and forever chasing the impossible mirage of ownership in the overpriced capital.

Scandal isnat always a problem for New Yorkers, who tolerate a certain amount of eccentricity in their mayor

It is hard to pick a favourite moment from the New York mayoras race, entering its final stage of the primaries this week. It could be the episode in which two candidates a Shaun Donovan and Ray McGuire a were asked to guess the average house price in Brooklyn and answered $100,000, which would have been correct in 1985. (For those operating in 2021, the correct answer is $900,000).

It could have been the implosion of the Dianne Morales campaign, the most progressive candidate by far, predictably destroyed from within when staffers complained shead created a ahostilea environment and that the work, presumably stuffing envelopes, was arepetitive and unstructureda. Meanwhile, it is hard not to love the storyline still playing out around Eric Adams, Brooklyn borough president and current frontrunner in the primary and therefore the election: that he secretly lives in New Jersey.

The idea that the country could spend less on key frontline services than what was planned before the pandemic needs to be discarded

Last week the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, claimed in a TV interview that the government cash being spent to keep the economy running during the pandemic was not his money to spend but the viewersa money. The subtext was that Covid-19 bills would have to be paid for. Mr Sunak was channelling his inner Margaret Thatcher, who in 1983 told her party conference that there is ano such thing as public money; there is only taxpayersa moneya. It is rhetoric frequently used by those who wish to suggest that the government faces the same budget constraints as a household. It is also economically illiterate.

The UK is not going to run out of money. The Bank of England is financing Covid spending by buying up huge amounts of Treasury debt under quantitative easing. Lord Turner of Ecchinswell, a former City regulator, told peers earlier this year that QE ais lubricating a fiscal expansion and making it easy for the government to run large fiscal deficits without the danger of setting a rise in interest ratesa. We are living in an era of cheap money. Boris Johnsonas apparent repudiation of his own partyas austerity policies cannot be squared with real-terms cuts to some department budgets. The Treasury remains committed to balancing the books in mean-spirited ways: whether it is paying nurses a miserly 1% extra or cutting aid to the poverty-stricken parts of the globe. However demotic the slogans used by Mr Johnson, his words all too often betray the partyas real instincts. While Mr Sunak wonat find the cash to pay for catch-up lessons, his boss praises rich parents who buy private tuition because they awork harda.

People are starving in the Tigray region. The culprit is the devastating war

In the early 1980s, as a terrible famine claimed between 400,000 and 1 million lives in Ethiopia, the international community responded to what was widely misunderstood and misreported as a natural disaster. Famines are never just a matter of drought. Human Rights Watch later noted that Ethiopiaas repeated crises a especially the devastating one of 1983-85 a awere in large part created by government policies, especially counter-insurgency strategiesa. Tigray was athe very nadir of the faminea, as a destructive army offensive was accompanied by the deliberate blocking of aid.

Now famine has reached Tigray again a and once more, it is because an Ethiopian government is at war with the Tigray Peopleas Liberation Front. The federal government wants to celebrate the beginning of twice-delayed parliamentary elections on Monday, portraying them as the advent of democracy. But the polls are overshadowed by questions over electoral conditions and multiple crises, most of all in Tigray (where there will be no voting). Over 350,000 people in the region are in famine conditions, and 2 million more are on the brink a more than a third of the regionas population. They include 33,000 children at imminent risk of death.

Pete Dorey thinks the middle class feel increasingly alienated, betrayed and frightened, while Andrew Grant-Adamson believes anti-government votes are consolidating behind the candidate most likely to win. Plus letters from Jeremy Beecham, Stephen Jakobi, Derek Schofield, Daniel Scharf and John Whitfield

Although there have previously been remarkable Liberal and Lib Dem byelection victories that failed to lead to a longer-term challenge to the Conservatives, the Chesham and Amersham byelection might still herald a weakening of middle-class support for the Conservative party, and a crumbling of the ablue walla (Senior Tories warn Boris Johnson ablue walla is at risk after byelection defeat, 19 June).

Increasing sections of the middle class are suffering the downsides to free-market capitalism and corporate power, which the working class have always suffered: stagnant earnings or pay cuts, while their employers and shareholders get obscenely richer every year; loss of creativity or flexibility in the workplace due to micro- or macho-management and top-down performance targets; increasing job insecurity due to fixed-term contracts and repeated redundancies (the precariat); longer or more unsocial working hours, so less time with family, friends or engaging in community activities; constant attacks on aunaffordablea occupational pensions; up to APS50,000 of debt for a university education, which until relatively recently was free; unaffordable housing or exorbitant rents for their young adult offspring; and the need to sell the family home to pay for nursing home fees in old age a so no inheritance for their children.

Alan Robinson, Paul Hill and Ian Wells on the continuing restrictions on choral singing under coronavirus regulations

Our small local choir was working hard towards a performance of Vivaldias Gloria for Easter 2020 when the pandemic struck. We immediately shut up shop, and have continued to follow government guidelines as to possible resumption dates, now postponed by a further four weeks (PM announces four-week delay to Covid lockdown easing in England, 14 June). Since March 2020, not a note have we sung.

We are an ageing choir and many members will not return when we do resume. The choir may be unviable by the time singing is allowed.

Mayor says Manchester being treated with contempt while infection rates match parts of Scotland

• Coronavirus latest updates

The Greater Manchester mayor, Andy Burnham, has accused the Scottish government of ahypocrisya after it announced a travel ban to parts of the north-west.

Nicola Sturgeon said on Friday all non-essential travel to Manchester and Salford would be banned from Monday, with the Labour mayor saying the move came aout of the bluea.

Move also raises concerns that private equity could buy up other UK supermarket groups

An unsolicited APS5.5bn private equity bid for Morrisons, swiftly rejected by the supermarket chain, could spark a bidding war for Britainas fourth biggest grocer and has raised concerns that other supermarket groups could be sold off to private equity.

On Saturday night Morrisons said it had rebuffed a preliminary takeover bid worth just over APS5.5bn from the US firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R), which had offered to pay 230p a share in cash. Morrisonsa share price closed at 178.45p on Friday, valuing the company at APS4.3bn.

Fast food chain plans to open 50 new restaurants over the next year

McDonaldas is to recruit 20,000 workers and open 50 new restaurants in the UK and Ireland.

The fast food chain plans to employ additional staff and set up new franchises over the next 12 months.

Sharp rise attributed to young people spending more time at home during Covid pandemic

The number of children and young adults entering treatment for gaming addictions and disorders tripled over the last year, and experts believe that the pandemic and lockdowns played a key role in the increase.

The UKas first specialist clinic to treat children and young adults who are addicted to playing video games opened in 2019, a year after the World Health Organization recognised agaming disordera as a medical condition.

Conservatives urge prime minister to change course ahead of debate and in wake of shock byelection defeat

Boris Johnson faces a fresh headache over planning reforms, with Conservative MPs urging the prime minister to change course in the wake of the partyas shock defeat in the Chesham and Amersham byelection.

Pressure is expected to build on Johnson on Monday in a parliamentary debate called by Labour on the changes, as MPs demand better protections for communities to have their say over planning applications.

After Twitter appeal Mathew OaTooleas family makes contact with Danielle who stopped on London street to help

The family of a man who had a stroke on a street in central London has found the aguardian angela who saved his life after an appeal on Twitter.

Mathew OaToole, 47, was sitting on a bench outside a coffee shop on Wigmore Street in Mayfair on 10 June when he began vomiting and sweating.

Charity is giving away 33% more bedding and clothes as pandemic hits incomes hard

• Coronavirus a latest updates
• See all our coronavirus coverage

aIave been trying to make my baby daughteras vests bigger by stretching them while wet,a Carly Smith, a 26-year-old single mother of three, explains. aI canat afford new clothes, so sheas just been wearing a nappy in the pram.a Her 11-year-old son had to return to school in home clothes, having grown out of his uniform, and is now wearing his grandfatheras T-shirts. aIall be honest, itas embarrassing,a she says.

Before Covid, Smith (not her real name) had been given credit to buy clothing when she needed it by a kind shopkeeper, but the shop closed down during the pandemic. Whatas more, Smith a a domestic violence victim a was forced to move home and leave her support network (and hand-me-downs supply) when her abusive ex-partner was released early from prison.

Sector faces glut of cheap imports because of recommendation that EU protections should not be renewed

The government was on Saturday night accused of dealing a hammer blow to the struggling British steel industry in the name of Brexit and free trade, as a fresh political row blew up over plans to allow more cheap foreign imports into the UK.

Several Tory MPs in ared walla seats, backed by the Labour party and steel industry leaders, are furious that a government body has officially recommended that protections inherited from the EU to safeguard UK producers be ended imminently by the government.

Revamped gallery to reveal the importance a and presence a of Mary Moffat in missionaryas life and travels

Dr Livingstone, the Scottish explorer and Christian missionary in Africa, was a hero for Victorian schoolboys, his reputation enhanced by exuberant biographies. But next month the reopening of a museum on the banks of the River Clyde, following a APS9.1m investment, is to set his famous story in a broader context.

The cliche runs that behind every great man stands a great woman. In Livingstoneas case, the reputation of his fearless wife, Mary Moffat, actually went before him, smoothing his path through remote regions.

Key issues such as election reform and voting rights, and efforts to curb gun control have seen Republican push back

Joe Bidenas far-reaching domestic agenda in the US is facing serious setbacks on a range of issues as the political quagmire of a tightly contested Senate is seeing Democratic ambitions sharply curtailed in the face of Republican obstruction.

On a number of key fronts such as pushing election reform and voting rights, efforts to curb gun control and to moving forwards on LGBTQ civil rights, there has been an effective push back by Republicans a and a handful of conservative Democrats a that is forcing Biden and the wider Democratic party on to the back foot.

The hardliner president-elect has caused alarm in some countries, though Iran and the US say agreement can still be found

World powers attempting to revive the Iran nuclear deal have warned of complications on the path to an agreement as they met for the first time since the election as Iranian president of Ebrahim Raisi, a hardline conservative cleric deeply antagonistic towards the west.

Jake Sullivan, the US national security adviser, said the arrow was pointing in the right direction, but he refused to say if sanctions imposed on Raisi by the Trump administration would be lifted. The German governmentas human rights commissioner, BA$?rbel Kofler, said it was concerning that Raisi had not distanced himself clearly from human rights abuses. A European diplomat meanwhile warned the talks could not be open-ended, hinting strongly they needed a deal before Raisi took power in early August.

Elections this week could give PM even greater power, despite a regional conflict and a aman-madea humanitarian crisis

Tens of millions of Ethiopians are expected to vote on Monday in crucial elections that could provide a launchpad for controversial prime minister Abiy Ahmed to consolidate his increasingly authoritarian rule.

Abiy, who won the Nobel peace prize two years ago after concluding a peace deal with neighbouring Eritrea, will face voters at the ballot box for the first time in Africaas second most populous nation.

Key issues such as election reform and voting rights, and efforts to curb gun control have seen Republican push back

Joe Bidenas far-reaching domestic agenda in the US is facing serious setbacks on a range of issues as the political quagmire of a tightly contested Senate is seeing Democratic ambitions sharply curtailed in the face of Republican obstruction.

On a number of key fronts such as pushing election reform and voting rights, efforts to curb gun control and to moving forwards on LGBTQ civil rights, there has been an effective push back by Republicans a and a handful of conservative Democrats a that is forcing Biden and the wider Democratic party on to the back foot.

Sign of rightward trend of politics in the rural and Republican-dominated state

Far-right anti-government activist and militia figure Ammon Bundy has announced a bid to be governor of Idaho governor in a further sign of the rightward trend of politics in the rural and Republican-dominated state.

The Stetson-wearing activist said he wants to defend Idaho from President aJoe Biden and those in the Deep State that control hima because they aare going to try to take away our gun rights, freedom of religion, parental rights, and more and further violate the Constitution in unimaginable ways even more than theyave already done.a

Cold reality intrudes on Bidenas first few months as leftist Democrats frustrated with presidentas agenda stalling in Congress

They were pointed questions, not personal criticisms. But they will have conveyed a warning to Joe Biden that the patience of the left of the Democratic party and its leaders in athe Squada of progressive politicians is not infinite.

aAre we passing the deal that helps working people the most?a asked Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the firebrand New York congresswoman and best known member of the squad. aAre we passing the deal that makes the most jobs? Are we passing a deal that brings down the most climate emissions? Are we passing a deal that raises wages and actually improves our infrastructure for the next generation?a

Financial aid acriticala to help developing countries limit fossil fuels a and make Cop26 a success, says UN

The head of climate change at the UN has warned that world leaders are still afar awaya from securing a deal to limit the disastrous effects of global heating, with less than five months to go before a key summit in Glasgow.

Time is now running out, said Patricia Espinosa, who was formerly foreign minister of Mexico but now leads the UN on climate policy. She told the Observer that although advances had been made at the G7 meeting in Cornwall last weekend, progress had not been made on honouring past commitments to find $100bn (APS72.5bn) a year to help developing countries invest in green technologies.

Just 1% of the cityas registered voters have turned out so far in a primary filled with allegations and accusations

New York City will effectively choose its next mayor in the coming days, drawing to a close a tumultuous election race marred by allegations of sexual misconduct, by the staff of one campaign launching a protest against their own candidate, and by accusations that at least one of the mayoral hopefuls doesnat actually live in the city.

The winner in Tuesdayas Democratic primary will, given the leftward political leanings of the city, almost certainly win the election proper in November, and immediately be tasked with leading New York through its darkest period in several decades.

Thirty-two of the slow-flying water birds were found in Orange county, with all but 10 showing fractures to their wings

Authorities in California are looking for a suspected human culprit behind attacks on more than two dozen brown pelicans who have been found seriously injured in the south of the state.

In an alert issued last week, the Wetlands & Wildlife Care Center in Orange county said 32 of the slow-flying water birds have been found between San Clemente and Huntington Beach, with all but 10 showing compound fractures to their wings.

Statement clarified initial speculation that it was a hate crime directed at the gay community

A member of a menas chorus group unintentionally slammed into fellow chorists at the start of a Pride parade in South Florida, killing one member of the group and seriously injuring another, the groupas director said Sunday.

The statement clarified initial speculation that it was a hate crime directed at the gay community.

Ten people died in 15-vehicle crash, including nine children, and two more people died when a tree fell on their house

Tropical depression Claudette claimed 12 lives in Alabama as the storm swept across the south-eastern US, causing flash flooding and spurring tornadoes that destroyed dozens of homes.

Ten people, including nine children, were killed Saturday in a 15-vehicle crash about 35 miles (55km) south of Montgomery on Interstate 65, according to Butler county coroner Wayne Garlock.

Abstention rate estimated at 68%, and exit polls suggest Le Penas National Rally failed to get expected support

Emmanuel Macronas centrist party received what one of its own MPs called a aslap in the facea in regional and department elections on Sunday.

The president and his government failed to mobilise supporters, with an estimated 68% of voters shunned the polling stations a an unprecedented rate of abstention. If there was any consolation for the ruling party it was that exit polls suggested Marine Le Penas far-right National Rally had failed to garner its expected support.

The hardliner president-elect has caused alarm in some countries, though Iran and the US say agreement can still be found

World powers attempting to revive the Iran nuclear deal have warned of complications on the path to an agreement as they met for the first time since the election as Iranian president of Ebrahim Raisi, a hardline conservative cleric deeply antagonistic towards the west.

Jake Sullivan, the US national security adviser, said the arrow was pointing in the right direction, but he refused to say if sanctions imposed on Raisi by the Trump administration would be lifted. The German governmentas human rights commissioner, BA$?rbel Kofler, said it was concerning that Raisi had not distanced himself clearly from human rights abuses. A European diplomat meanwhile warned the talks could not be open-ended, hinting strongly they needed a deal before Raisi took power in early August.

Man arrested after body of former US marine is discovered in woods near Nizhny Novgorod

Russian investigators have detained a man on suspicion of murder after finding the body of a foreign woman identified by media as a missing American student.

Russian news agencies identified the woman as 34-year-old US citizen Catherine Serou.

Bidenas 70% vaccination target by Fourth of July likely to fall short as efforts to entice people to get shots have lost their initial impact

With Covid vaccination penetration in the US likely to fall short of Joe Bidenas 70% by Fourth of July target, pandemic analysts are warning that vaccine incentives are losing traction and that atwo Americasa may emerge as the aggressive Delta variant becomes the dominant US strain.

Efforts to boost vaccination rates have come through a variety of incentives, from free hamburgers to free beer, college scholarships and even million-dollar lottery prizes. But of the efforts to entice people to get their shots have lost their initial impact, or failed to land effectively at all.

A further six deaths were recorded in the UK; Vigilance urged as France eases restrictions

• PHE London says unlikely capital will have all over-30s double-vaccinated by 19 July
• People in UK with both jabs may not have to quarantine, says scientist
• Under-18s could be areservoirsa for virus when all UK adults are jabbed
• aTwo Americasa as Delta variant spreads and vaccination rates drop
• Uganda Olympic athlete arriving in Tokyo tests positive for coronavirus
• aDevastateda Phuket races to vaccinate in time for holiday season

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The number of ablack fungusa cases in India has shot up to more than 30,000 in the past three weeks.

According to the New York Times, while the federal health ministry has not published figures on fatalities related to the disease, states have brought the death toll to 2,100.

8.16pm BST

France has reported 1,815 new Covid-19 cases on the same day it announced measures to ease lockdown, Reuters reports.

The number remains unchanged from the previous day, while deaths have risen by 14.

The US donation has more than doubled Taiwanas available vaccine stocks as it battles a rise in coronavirus infections

• See all our coronavirus coverage

Taiwan has reacted with an outpouring of thanks to the United States for shipping 2.5m Covid-19 vaccine doses to the island, more than doubling its arsenal as it deals with a rise in domestic infections.

Washington, competing with Beijing to deepen geopolitical clout through avaccine diplomacya, initially had promised to donate 750,000 doses but increased that number as President Joe Bidenas administration advances its pledge to send 80m US-made shots around the world.

Infection in team that had been fully vaccinated is first Covid-19 case detected among athletes visiting for next monthas Games

• See all our coronavirus coverage

A member of Ugandaas Olympic team has tested positive for coronavirus and was barred entry into Japan, in the first detected infection among athletes arriving for the Tokyo Games, due to open in five weeks.

The athletes, who arrived on Saturday night at Tokyoas Narita airport, were all fully vaccinated with AstraZeneca and had negative PCR tests before boarding, the Asahi newspaper reported, quoting an anonymous cabinet secretariat official.

The Viatris plant in West Virginia has been making pharmaceuticals since 1965 a but itas closing down and laying workers off

aDisbelief. Distraught and traumatized.a

Just some of the words United Steelworkers Local 8-957 president Joe Gouzd used to describe how he and hundreds of other workers felt after their 56-year-old pharmaceutical plant in West Virginia was shut down, sending between 1,500 and 2,000 jobs to India and Australia.

aPlantrepeneuersa are springing up on social media to dig out space for black people in the natural world

More than 1.4 million people watch Alexis Nikole Nelson, the aBlack Foragera, eat weeds on TikTok.

Related: Champ, Joe Bidenas German shepherd and asweet, good boya, dies aged 13

Activists have traveled from all over the US to protest against the construction of Line 3, a giant project that crosses Indigenous land

As the sun set, more than a dozen young people carried a wooden bridge toward a narrow section of the Mississippi River. The bridge allowed the group to cross more easily from their camp to where the immense oil pipeline was being built on the other side.

They were cited for trespassing a but they had symbolically laid claim to the marshy landscape.

Researchers say influences in the womb may play a role in increasing the risk of developing the condition

Children of obese mothers have a greater risk of developing fatty liver disease in their 20s, according to researchers who say policymakers need to do more to tackle the promotion of poor-quality food and drink.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) can be caused by obesity. If it progresses it can lead to serious health problems such as cirrhosis and liver cancer, while high levels of fat in the liver are also associated with a greater risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

Far-right conspiracies ran unchecked online in the Trump years. Itas all gone quiet since the Capitol riot, but author Mike Rothschild believes thereas a radicalised audience waiting for a new rallying point

On 7 January this year, a day after the mob stormed the Capitol in Washington DC, a curious exchange occurred in the netherworld of global conspiracy. Alex Jones, the rasp-voiced mouthpiece of fake news for the past decade, was in conversation with the most visible leader of the previous dayas shocking events: Jacob Chansley, the self-styled aQ Shamana who featured on the worldas front pages, in buffalo horns, animal skins and face paint.

Jones, on his fake-news platform Infowars, with its million-plus viewers and sharers, had for years been the loudhailer of unhinged stories that included the belief that Hillary Clinton was the antichrist, that Michelle Obama was a man, that the Pentagon and George Soros had detonated a ahomosexual bomba that turned even frogs gay, that 9/11 had been a afalse flaga operation and, most viciously, that the Sandy Hook school murders, in which 20 children and six teachers died, were staged by acrisis actorsa to promote gun control. Jones had inevitably been among those who addressed the restive crowd at Donald Trumpas aStop the Steala march (having donated $50,000 for the staging of the rally) and calling for supporters to aget on a war footinga to defend the president. Two days later, however, when faced with the rhetoric of Chansley, whom he had invited on to his show to explain the insurrection, it seemed even he, Americaas conspirator in chief, finally couldnat take the lies any more.

This summer is officially sexy a and the hottest look for men is short shorts. But are we ready for this much male flesh?

In April the US actor Milo Ventimiglia, star of This Is Us, was photographed leaving the gym in a sleeveless vest and a pair of shorts so short you could barely tell they were there: two thumb-sized rims of black material gave way to legs so round and meaty they could be shoved in the oven for three hours at 180C.

It was one innocuous paparazzi photo that broke a dam of desire. The image was reshared on social media tens of thousands of times, users claiming: aEvery thought in my head has been replaced with these images.a

The rivalry with China is palpable but history teaches us lessons about how itas easier to blame others than blame ourselves

Chinaas increasingly aggressive geopolitical and economic stance in the world is unleashing a fierce bipartisan backlash in America. Thatas fine if it leads to more public investment in basic research, education, and infrastructure a as did the Sputnik shock of the late 1950s. But it poses dangers as well.

More than 60 years ago, the sudden and palpable fear that the Soviet Union was lurching ahead of us shook America out of a postwar complacency and caused the nation to do what it should have been doing for many years. Even though we did it under the pretext of national defense a we called it the National Defense Education Act and the National Defense Highway Act and relied on the Defense Advanced Research Projects Administration for basic research leading to semiconductors, satellite technology, and the Internet a the result was to boost US productivity and American wages for a generation.

Scandal isnat always a problem for New Yorkers, who tolerate a certain amount of eccentricity in their mayor

It is hard to pick a favourite moment from the New York mayoras race, entering its final stage of the primaries this week. It could be the episode in which two candidates a Shaun Donovan and Ray McGuire a were asked to guess the average house price in Brooklyn and answered $100,000, which would have been correct in 1985. (For those operating in 2021, the correct answer is $900,000).

It could have been the implosion of the Dianne Morales campaign, the most progressive candidate by far, predictably destroyed from within when staffers complained shead created a ahostilea environment and that the work, presumably stuffing envelopes, was arepetitive and unstructureda. Meanwhile, it is hard not to love the storyline still playing out around Eric Adams, Brooklyn borough president and current frontrunner in the primary and therefore the election: that he secretly lives in New Jersey.

The new anti-woke news channel is poorly produced and chaotically presented but we underestimate it at our peril

Last week, as a disciple of the religion of wokeness, I was busy boycotting products advertised on Andrew Sphagnum Moss Neilas new anti-woke GB News channel, which has been difficult as many of them are goods and services I donat use. Consequently, I spent Monday in the park under a willow tree trying determinedly to develop a taste for Kopparberg cider, so I could email the company later announcing I was no longer going to drink it. But, as I woke up in a puddle of my own urine on Tuesday morning, I learned that the fruity alcohol provider was the first of many firms to announce withdrawal from GB Newsas slots. My liver had suffered needlessly, but I felt pretty good about myself because of the sacrifice I had considered making, but then hadnat needed to anyway.

Reaching damply for my phone, I saw that Grolsch and Ikea had declared that GB Newsas ethos was also contrary to their avaluesa (namely abuy more beera and abuy more furniturea respectively). If GB News advertisers Amazon, Google and Facebook suddenly discover they too have avaluesa maybe they will address their shortcomings in areas such as tax avoidance, workersa rights and data manipulation. I went downstairs and ordered a garlic naan from the GB News-supporting fast-food bikers Deliveroo, so I could tell the poorly paid delivery person to take it back to his evil paymasters immediately and then signed up for a philosophy degree with GB News enablers the Open University, with the specific intention of withdrawing from it on principle later. Take back control!

Gig companies want to win back labor through promotions and bonuses. But workers can see through the claims

What are the real choices confronting gig workers as they consider their employment options in the post-pandemic world?

As the push to get America back to work begins, employers are lamenting that no one wants to work any more. Low-wage industries in particular are struggling to fill positions amid a record high number of job openings, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Little has been achieved in 20 years of war, and as the Taliban regroup, ordinary Afghans brace for an uncertain future

Military retreats from Afghanistan are problematic, as the British (1842) and the Red Army (1989) discovered to their cost. The cliffs of the Khyber Pass feature many memorials and plaques to departing or defeated foreign forces. The 2021 Afghan withdrawal is less fraught a the US is not yet retreating under fire. But the march to the exit has nonetheless turned into an undignified sprint.

Most Americans will welcome this accelerated end to an unpopular war. Yet it spells catastrophe for Afghans who pinned their hopes and their countryas future on western support in fighting Taliban and Islamist terrorism and who believed the nation-building promises made by George W Bush and others.

• Hole-by-hole updates from Torrey Pines
• Check out the official US Open leaderboard
• And you can email Scott with your thoughts

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Henley canat make his long par saver on 8. Itas all going wrong for the 32-year-old from Georgia, who slips to -2. Daniel Berger meanwhile has signed for a final round of 68, and joins Branden Grace in the clubhouse lead at -1.

10.26pm BST

Rahm - who will have been fearful of taking six, seven or even eight as he watched his drive disappear towards the boundary fence at 9 - lands his third onto the shoulder of a bunker to the left of the green. The ball takes a big turn right, and nearly trundles in for an absurd eagle! Heall have a look at birdie from three feet. This might be the hole, and the sequence of events, that makes him think: this is my time!

• Milwaukee advance to Eastern Conference finals
• Injury-plagued superteam Nets out of NBA playoffs

A Game 7 thriller, the NBAas first do-or-die game to go to overtime in 15 years, came down to a matter of inches.

If Brooklyn star Kevin Durant was just slightly farther away or if his foot was slightly smaller he would have ended the highest-scoring Game 7 ever by an NBA player with a three-pointer to win the series.

Half an hour before kick-off, when the team sheets were read aloud for the first time, the loudest Roman roar was reserved for the Italy manager, Roberto Mancini. On the front of Gazzetta dello Sportas pullout last week, Mancini was mocked up in the dugout alongside Albert Einstein but a third successive victory, which extended their unbeaten run to a record-equalling 30 matches, required little genius. In fact, they barely broke sweat on a muggy evening on which Matteo Pessina scored the only goal to beat Wales.

Wales, who had Ethan Ampadu sent off 10 minutes into the second half, became their latest victims but Italyas failure to press home their one-man advantage ensured Robert Pageas side will qualify from Group A in second place, teeing up a last-16 date in Amsterdam on Saturday. Italyas supporters enjoyed themselves and by the end there was a carnival atmosphere as a Mexican wave made its way around this cavernous stadium. It was an outcome that suited both teams, even if Ampaduas red card will rankle.

• France missed chance to qualify in Hungary draw
• Forward urges team to beat Portugal and top Group F

Antoine Griezmann has said France will channel the anger from their draw against Hungary and the pain of defeat in the Euro 2016 final into their group finale with Portugal.

The world champions meet the European champions on Wednesday in a game that will shape the course of the tournament for several title contenders. Germany, Portugal and France are all still vying to win Group F and secure what appears the easier route into the quarter-finals. The runner-up could face England at Wembley on Tuesday next week providing Gareth Southgateas side beat the Czech Republic to win Group D. The Netherlands or Belgium could await whoever finishes third.

From Netherlandsa goalscoring wing-back to Franceas grizzled medal-collector, we pick six of the best from the opening week

The PSV Eindhoven wing-back has been exceptional in the opening two matches, scoring the winning goal against Ukraine and rounding off the comfortable victory over Austria with a second of the tournament having earlier won a penalty. A former Aruba international who was named after Denzel Washington, Dumfries was first called up by Ronald Koeman in 2018 but had never scored until his heroics in the opening game. The 25-year-oldas energy down the right flank has given Frank de Boeras side an extra dimension that has helped them book their place in the next round, with Bayern Munich reported to be among the big clubs now interested in signing him.

• South African co-leads alongside Hughes and Henley
• McIlroy, DeChambeau in chasing pack at Torrey Pines

A bunched leaderboard that made for endless possibilities on moving day at the US Open got even more crowded at the top in the dying stages of Saturdayas third round.

Louis Oosthuizen deposited a 30-foot putt for eagle on the 18th green, shortly after sinking a 30-footer for birdie on the 16th, to vault into a three-way tie for the 54-hole lead at Torrey Pines Golf Course alongside Canadaas Mackenzie Hughes and Russell Henley of the US and setting the stage for high drama on Sunday afternoon.

• Berrettini quashes hopes of first ATP title with big-serving win
• Italian becomes first debutant to triumph since Boris Becker

Cameron Norrieas bid to become the king of Queenas Club was ended in three sets by the big-serving Italian Matteo Berrettini in the final of the Cinch Championships.

Norrie, 25, was attempting to become only the second British player to win at Queenas Club, after Andy Murray, since the second world war. But Berrettini, the world No 9 and top seed, proved too strong in a 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-3 victory.

Like his hero, George Orwell, the Atlantic writer is not afraid to look to his own a liberals, the media a and prescribe harsh cures

In 2021, almost nothing is harder to write than a fresh take on the multiple crises confronting post-Trump America. But with this sharp, short new book, that is exactly what George Packer has given us, confirming his place as one of our most valuable journalists.

Related: aWe dodged a mortar rounda: George Packer on America in crisis

Claims of rightwing candidate, trailing Pedro Castillo in the polls, emboldens far right, who have vowed not to accept result

The prospect of the son of illiterate Andean peasants becoming president as his rival cries fraud has shaken Peruas entrenched class system and its fragile democracy, letting loose a torrent of racism in the bicentennial year of the countryas independence.

With 100% of the official vote counted, leftist Pedro Castillo had 50.12% a and advantage of about 44,000 votes over his far-right rival Keiko Fujimori. But Fujimori has claimed fraud, challenging about 500,000 votes, calling for half to be annulled, and obliging officials at Peruas electoral board to reexamine ballots a despite the lack of evidence of wrongdoing.

Jewish association says hundreds of other Nazi victims in the UK could apply for financial support from German-backed fund

aDoes he realise heas talking to somebody whoas nearly dead,a Evelyn Lipmann asked her daughter, Kate, just before an interview with the Observer last week.

Very little about the 97-year-oldas wit and recall suggest the end is imminent, however, and her life story proves it would take a lot to kill her.

Elections this week could give PM even greater power, despite a regional conflict and a aman-madea humanitarian crisis

Tens of millions of Ethiopians are expected to vote on Monday in crucial elections that could provide a launchpad for controversial prime minister Abiy Ahmed to consolidate his increasingly authoritarian rule.

Abiy, who won the Nobel peace prize two years ago after concluding a peace deal with neighbouring Eritrea, will face voters at the ballot box for the first time in Africaas second most populous nation.

Countrywide scheme is flourishing after being set up to reverse a 75% decline in insect populations

To escape the Berlin bustle on a summer afternoon, all that Derek OaDoyle and his dog Frida have to do is lap the noisy building site outside their inner-city apartment, weave their way through the queue in front of the ice-cream van, and squeeze between two gridlocked lorries to cross over Baerwaldstrasse.

Bordered by a one-way traffic system lies a bucolic 1,720 sq metre haven as colourful as a Monet landscape: blue cornflowers, red poppies, white cow parsley and purple field scabious dot a sea of nettles and wild grass as armies of insects buzz through the air. Two endangered carpenter bees, larger than their honey bee cousins and with pitch-black abdomens, gorge themselves on a bush of yellow gorse.

Sundayas poll could help far right step further towards political mainstream ahead of 2022 presidential elections

France is voting in the first round of regional elections that could see Marine Le Penas far-right party make gains and step further into the political mainstream.

In Sundayas election, new assemblies will be elected for mainland Franceas 13 regions and 96 departments, with Le Penas National Rally (RN) tipped to win at least one region for the first time in what would be a major coup.

Up to 3,000 people flocked to remote village of KwaHlathi, but experts say value of the crystals is very low

Unidentified stones that lured thousands of fortune seekers to a rural South African village were not diamonds as hoped, officials said on Sunday, but quartz stones with relatively low if any value.

People from across South Africa travelled to KwaHlathi in eastern KwaZulu-Natal province where villagers had been digging with picks and shovels since 12 June after a herder discovered the first stone in an open field and put out the word.

Authorities accuse partygoers of throwing Molotov cocktails, metal balls and bits of breeze blocks at officers, who fired teargas to break up party

French police clashed for hours with partygoers at a 1,500-strong illegal rave over the weekend, with one partygoer losing a hand and five officers injured.

Local official Emmanuel Berthier said partygoers threw aMolotov cocktails, metal balls and bits of breeze blocksa at officers during avery violent clashesa in western France.

Initial evidence indicates body found in woods is that of Jurgen Conings

Belgian police have said a body has been found in the search for a fugitive far-right soldier who was the target of a huge manhunt.

Hundreds of security forces scoured a swath of north-east Belgium after the disappearance on 17 May of Jurgen Conings, who was on an anti-terrorism watchlist, had threatened a senior virologist involved in the countryas Covid-19 programme and had hoarded heavy weaponry.

Fast food chain plans to open 50 new restaurants over the next year

McDonaldas is to recruit 20,000 workers and open 50 new restaurants in the UK and Ireland.

The fast food chain plans to employ additional staff and set up new franchises over the next 12 months.

How often you have sex is not what counts, what really matters is the attention that you pay to each other

The question I have been with my husband for 10 years. We have two children and are very happy and enjoy being together. But one area does bother me: our sex life has dwindled, particularly since we had children. We used to have sex daily and it was great. But, as time went on and our children arrived, I find that weare just too tired to have sex as often.

Our first child was born prematurely and spent time in neonatal intensive care. We both found that difficult and I think that I am still traumatised by it. My husband says itas the past and that we should not dwell on that trauma. Heas right, but I canat seem to help it.

aWe want to be known,a says Isabella Guzman. And she plans to do that by hiring the best and the brightest

Isabella Guzman is the new administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA). And sheas got a long-term problem.

No, itas not about pandemic loans or the bottleneck in disbursing grants under other stimulus initiatives. Itas not even about catching fraudsters or approving applications. She has these problems of course. But thatas not the long-term problem.

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